-Maze Audio-We are pioneers in Hand Braided Four Conductor Technology

We believe four conductor braided cables are the best solution for a noise free audio system.

﻿Four conductor braided technology is at the heart of all of Maze Audio’s top of the line Ref4 audio cables. Four conductor braided cables provide a level of noise reduction that simply isn not possible with any other production method.

Whether you are talking about power cables, speaker cables or interconnects, braided four conductor cables are heads and shoulders above conventional cables when it comes to noise reduction and detail retention.

"Inductance rejection" is the ability of any cable to shed or deflect electrical noise from the environment in which the cable operates. The rear of every audio system is congested with electrical noise. This congestion increases with every component you add to your system. The more complex your audio system, the more electrical noise is present. Also every electrical component you have in your house, no matter how far from your beloved sound system, adds to the noise via your audio component's electrical supply.

As audiophiles we have all heard that we should keep AC power cables and signal cables (interconnects and speaker cables) separate from each other. When this is not possible, we are told to run power cables at a right angle to signal cables when they must come into contact or cross each other. These are intuitive and intelligent steps to take when you are building your system. But what is possible on a more micro level? How can you produce each individual cable to help​ mitigate noise?

Above: A Maze Audio Ref4 Speaker cable. With jacketing upgrade.

In the past component and cable manufacturers simply ignored this question. Or they took half hearted inexpensive attempts at mitigating it. Common solutions offered were twisted pair or shielded conductors. Sometimes four conductor cables, commonly called “star quad” were/are offered for sale. Star quad is simply two twisted pair in a common cable housing. It's essentially a "twisted quad". While these “solutions” offered some improvement to a standard parallel conductor cable’s ability to shed noise, four conductor braided cables have vastly improved the results. ​Four conductor braided cable is not new, and Maze Audio didn't invent it. We are not sure who did, but most likely it was a hobbyist just like you or us. Maze Audio has been using and perfecting braided four cable for almost three decades. This technology is not more common in our hobby simply because it takes a lot of labor to produce. Machines can't do this, or more correctly, it's very expensive for machines to do this. For mass market cable manufacturers, hand braided, individually jacketed cable is very expensive to produce. But we can do it for you.

Our Ref4 cables fight noise induction in two ways:​First, a braided cable creates less noise for other cables to pick up. With it’s tight braid, the cable has an ability to stop electrical and magnetic fields before they start. For an electrical field to proliferate, it needs physical space to develop the field. Our tight braid doesn't provide the space necessary for electrical fields to develop.

Above: A Maze Audio Ref4 SE Power Cord with jacketing upgrade.

Second, when a braided cable meets the electrical field of another cable, it will reject RF and EMI noise much more successfully than any conventional cord. An electrical field that is strong enough to induce into another cable will have a more difficult time doing so when both negative and positive, and in the case of a power cord ground conductors, are present in a tight space. With braided cables extraneous noise and electrical interference are generally shunted straight to ground.

Simply put, the more braided cables you have in your system less electrical noise will be produced and induced.

As a pleasant byproduct of this construction four conductor braided cable produces some of the most flexible cable available. Because the individual conductors have the ability to slide against each other these cables are many times more flexible than cables built from conventional wires bonded together in a common cord. Maze Audio Ref4 braided cables are easy to use in your system. They will bend. They will go where other cables will not.

Above: A Maze Audio Ref4 interconnect with Jacketing upgrade

Try them for yourself. We are confident that hand braided cables from Maze Audio will help you build the quietest possible sound system.